Something Shared
by Spacensky
Summary: He couldn't just stare up at it forever, here. What on Irk was he supposed to do with an entire galaxy? {loosely based on itstheblob's lovely zagr artwork}


The stars seldom captured his attention for more than a few moments. Perhaps it was because his breadth of knowledge of each system, planet, quadrant, had left nothing to fawn over. To the humans, they were wonders, a calling to a forbidden frontier; for Zim, they were merely coordinates.

But looking up at them on this particular night, brought a feeling he couldn't name. Certainly, the light pollution that crowded the carbon pollution that already inhabited the sky reminded him of Irk. The planet had few days of sun, and was always bustling with life since Irkens never slept; the stars were never visible, much like on earth.

Earth, unlike any other planet he's been to, had unusual bouts of tranquility. Times where, while he was out perusing for his latest scheme, he could see many humans stop and just look up, or lay around with no objective in mind. Perhaps, he thought, it was because humans had so little to accomplish, and so little intelligence to pursue much.

Contempt as he was, he started to understand the appeal in this "star-gazing" as he sat in the dewy grass.

The feeling lingered, and his optics transparently displayed a brief "unidentified" signal. He was worried that he would feel unirken emotions again- he suppressed them as much as he could.

Though Zim failed to put a name to it, it was a sense of peace. A stronger belonging in this moment more than any other time in his life. With his blinded views, he may never realize what he felt was at home. At home, on this strange, isolated planet on the farthest corner of his universe.

The Tallests had bequeathed the Milky Way to him just last night. In terms of Irken invasion, this was the formal way of saying "Eh, we'll get to it eventually, maybe. Just keep an eye on it and don't officially conquer anything unless we say so". For Red and Purple, it was the perfect way to indirectly put down Zim's antics for the time being. Zealous as he was, Zim tried to respect their demands as best he could.

It was frustrating to not be able to blow anything up, or fling dookie on a neighboring planet. Not even twenty-four earth hours had passed, and his restlessness pressed against his psyche.

He couldn't just stare up at it forever, here.

What on Irk was he supposed to do with it?

"-Zim? Hey! Did you even hear a thing I just said?"

Zim's eyes fluttered in confusion, and he quickly turned to the voice. Though it was dark, he could see her face clearly and scarcely remembered her presence. He knew she hated being ignored, and he grew nervous for her exploding retort.

"Ehh? Oh, ha. I wasn't listening, Gus. Oops." He nervously responded.

Gaz's eyebrows furrowed deeper than before, and she huffed hot air through her nose.

"You've been acting weird lately. Weirder than you usually do." She softly responded.

Zim felt confused by her deflated response, but for Gaz, the exhaustion of this occurrence could not bring her to feel contempt. She briefly thought to just leave and end... whatever was between them. It was nothing either of them agreed to, and, to her worry, it somehow it developed over the years. Quips here and there evolved into weekly gaming sessions or nights where they'd experiment on an unsuspecting pig. Gaz realized it was neither fruitful or gave her use resource wise, so it seemed logical to leave him behind.

Yet, for reasons she feared would surface, she never could.

"I guess I _should_ ask if you're ok or... whatever." She said as she shrugged her shoulders in apathy.

Zim merely blinked and looked off to the side. He calculated his response, forcing himself to consider what a true Irken soldier should feel, and not the uncertainty that resided in him.

"Do you want it?" He flatly asked.

Gaz jerked her head back. It was like him to deflect a personal inquiry, but not as random as this. It was maddening how confusing he could be.

"What? Want... what?"

Zim gestured sharply to the nightly expanse, "All of it."

He turned to her and awaited her response, with no expression on his face. In truth, he felt... nervous for her answer. Not for how he felt inside, absolutely not, but because if she did not accept his offer, he'd be at a loss with his recently obtained estate.

"W-why?" She said. She squinted at him, her hands coming to her knees as she sat up on the grass.

He paused, "Is it not your day of birth?"

Gaz opened her mouth to respond but found herself speechless. As he was ignoring her earlier, she had ranted about the uneventful day with her hyper-fixated family. She never mentioned once she was frustrated because it was her birthday.

"How did you know?" she accused. Her eyes opened slightly to show her amber eyes, and her head tilted to the side.

As Zim spoke, he shuffled in place, patting the grass around him, straitening his pink tunic, anything but looking into her eyes.

"Well, I mean, eh, I've known for a while," he began, "You got tickets to a convention some years back and you said it was for your birthday. I do have superior memorization, unlike you humans."

"That's... huh." Gaz tugged on the natural point in her hair- a bad habit Dib always chastised her for.

She continued, "'s kinda funny. Dad and Dib don't even remember mine. I always had to remind them and I _live_ with them."

"Why does it bother you now?" Zim asked.

"Well, it's my quince. It's one of the more important birthdays of a human girl's life. Um, in my type of culture I mean." Gaz said.

"Oh, that's right, humans have different traditions despite being the same species..." Zim muttered to himself. Why they couldn't unite as one culture for simplicity, he'd never know. As calm as he became, he still held prejudice for ways of living outside of Irken culture. It was how he was raised in the academy.

"Still, you need to answer my question. Do you want it?"

"An entire galaxy? Uh... no."

"WHAT? Why not?" Zim stood up, incredulous at her rejection.

"What am I supposed to do with it? More importantly, why do you want to give it to me?" Gaz mirrored his actions and towered slightly over him.

"Foolish human! It's! uh. I..."

He never considered why he'd give anything to a human. The more he thought, he realized he never shared anything that was his unless it was part of a negotiation. More though... why was he so upset that she said no? He didn't lose anything from it. Perhaps, somehow, she hurt his pride?

"The Tallests appointed me to watch this galaxy until further notice, but I can't have fun and destroy stuff within it. I thought you could have it since, one: it is your birthday, and human custom dictates gifts be given, and two: you're the only human I'd trust with my property, despite your relation to my enemy." Zim started pompously and ended... more shyly than he'd intended.

Gaz's cheeks began to warm. His motivation wasn't entirely selfless, but it was more than either of them had experienced before.

He trusted her and remembered her birthday.

They were both thankful they were alone on this hill, overseeing the city miles away from contact. With their cold reputation on the line, they were certain they would be pressured into suppressing their vulnerability.

Gaz rubbed her shoulders, both in response to the dropping temperature and her thrumming heartbeat. She raised her brow and smirked casually, hoping to mask her feelings.

She jested, "Well, a galaxy is pretty big for one person," she closed the distance between them, grabbed his hand and patted it diplomatically, "how about we split even till your leaders give you an update?"

Enthusiasm spread across his face as he aptly closed his free hand atop of hers. He shook it in joyful affirmation.

"What an amazing idea that I clearly had earlier! Yes, a very agreeable... eh, agreement!" He said.

Gaz, a young woman comprised of snark and composure, rarely found herself genuinely chuckling. The sum of these moments was enough to fill a few digits on her hands... and somehow he managed to be the culprit of nearly all of them.

"Pff, yeah, good on you Zim." she giggled.

Zim's red eyes widened in joy, his lips curling to a warm, zippered nodule smile. She simply smiled back gratefully.

Either had yet to noticed their hands still enclosed in each other.

"Happy Quince, Gaz."

xxxxxxxxxx

I hadn't realized that the title bears some semblance to Something Stupid. It's not related, but, I mean, I guess it can since it deals with the budding something between these misanthropes. XD SO YEAH before I start writing 1000 other stories and not continuing ATA or SS, I will say that I stumbled across itstheblob's earlier IZ works and... man did I get inspired. Something about silhouettes and small dialogue against an expansive background really gets to me. Anywho, I love y'all's comments and critiques, I'll respond to each one when I can!


End file.
